Bound for Australia

Vessel Name: Sirius
30 November 2013
30 November 2013 | Coffs Harbour
30 November 2013 | On route New Cal to Oz
30 November 2013 | Noumea
23 November 2013
19 November 2013 | Vanuatu
28 October 2013 | Erromango, Vanuatu
28 October 2013 | Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu
17 October 2013 | Mt Yasur, Tanna, Vanuatu
16 October 2013 | Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu
16 October 2013 | Vanuatu Group
16 October 2013 | Fiji
01 October 2013
23 September 2013 | Tonga
23 September 2013 | Tonga
23 September 2013 | Tonga
18 September 2013 | Tonga
09 September 2013 | Nuie a very small country
09 September 2013 | Suwarrow
09 September 2013 | Suwarrow Atoll Cook Is
Recent Blog Posts
30 November 2013

The Last Leg to Bundabah

Anchored off our land in Bundabah November 21 - to be concluded

30 November 2013 | Coffs Harbour

Arrived Australia Sunday 10th November 2013

It's good to be home at last

30 November 2013 | On route New Cal to Oz

The Last Passage

With winds coming from the south southeast it made heading south quite difficult and not particularly pleasant but we continued staying as close to our desired course as possible. Once again it took a couple of days for most of us to find our sea legs, though Andrew never seems to loose his. Having Scott [...]

30 November 2013 | Noumea

New Caledonia

After spending the Friday night at anchor in the main Noumea bay we were lucky enough to secure a pontoon in the marina and were nicely tied up just in time for Scott, Mark and Jayden's arrival. Scott is my brother, Jayden is his son and Mark is my sister Patricia's youngest son. They joined us to do [...]

23 November 2013

On the way to New Caledonia

On to New Caledonia – the last stop before Australian waters: We waited about 5 days for a weather opportunity to move on to New Caledonia, along with a dozen or so boats heading South, almost all to New Zealand, but a few going our way. By late November, the Summer cyclone/typhoon season comes to the tropics including Vanuatu and New Caledonia, so by late October, all the cruising boats get ready to move on, most South to New Zealand, or some Australia, but a few also head North back across the Equator to Indonesia or the Philippines. We left on Tuesday 22nd October, which would get us into Noumea, Capital of New Caledonia, and the only port of entry by Friday with any luck, in time to meet 3 more family guests there on Saturday 26th. We had been more or less heading West since Panama with the prevailing winds, but now had to make 340 miles to the South West. For a while it looked like we would not be able to sail this way at all, and would have to make the long journey around the top of New Caledonia adding 200 miles to the trip and lots of motoring, but finally the wind had just enough East in it to let us sail to Noumea direct, although this was our first passage sailing into the wind since Belize back in March. We made good enough time to come through the outer islands of New Caledonia on Friday morning and get into Noumea Harbour by sunset. The Harbour was to our surprise packed with hundreds of sailing boats, most at anchor as the two small marinas were overflowing. Who they all were and where they were all going we never really found out. We worried that arriving after hours on a Friday would cause all the usual problems with officials, but not here – this is part of France and the EU, so everything is helpful, easy going and free. The photo is our Halloween party onboard - explanation in the next blog from Noumea.

19 November 2013 | Vanuatu

Port Vila

Just 20 minutes out of Port Vila we had drawn a complete blank on the fishing. This was a big disappointment to Margaret, who was very keen to catch just something ahead of brother Mark and uncle Scott coming onboard in Noumea. Then fish on and the reel buzzed. Margaret hauled it in, Warren gaffed [...]

Port Denarua

16 October 2013 | Fiji
AJ
Port Denarau. We pulled in to this smart modern marina to be met by our old friends Mark and Karline on Maloo, and a few days later by our friends Charles, Heather, Isabella and Luca on Chilli Cat. We have chased both of them across the Pacific, but have always been about a week behind, and had not seen them since our Christmas Day party last year at Marigot Bay, St Lucia. Sophia had 2 sleepovers on Chillicat with Isabella, while Cameron and Luca sleptover on Sirius. Both boats have now moved on to Vanuatu. Amara, Blue Moon and Black Jack were also there, making quite a party. The kids enjoyed scootering along the pontoons, the play centre in the marina, and the beach and swimming pools at several of the luxury resorts along the road. Denarua was a bit of luxury for us – free water on tap, nice showers and our very first shore power hook up since Martinique back in January. Fridges well chilled and toothbrushes charged. We also got our wifi dongle fired up again for cheap onboard internet. Lots of nice restaurants and happy hour bars, made for a good break. Sirius was given some TLC too with local engineers polishing out the sun bleaching on the blue hull and polishing all the steelwork and cabin tops. She looks like new again – at least for now. Denarua was just 20 mins from Nadi town and the international airport. Not much there apart from cheaper supermarkets and fruit and veg stalls, but convenient for my trip to the UK. Since Fiji is just across the International Dateline, this is almost as far from home as you can get. 10hrs flight to Hong Kong, then 13 to London, and worse on the way back as I had to take 3 flights and change in Sydney. Still an overnight stop in HK on the way home was a welcome break to the journey and chance to catch up with old friends and sit round the pool and bar at the Yacht Club. All up we had 14 nights at Denarau, but I was away for 11 of them. While I was away, Carolyn and the kids took a fun day trip on tour boat out to a small island for snorkelling lunch and relaxing by their pool. There is no yacht check out facility at Denarau, so we moved the 8 miles across the bay to Vuda Point marina and tied up there for 2 hours to clear out of Fiji and have a last fancy coffee with our last few Fiji $. 12:30 on Wednesday 2nd October, and a promise of fair winds to start our 480 mile trip to Anatom, the Southernmost of the Vanuatu Islands.
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